Search Works

Browse alphabetically through more than 9,000 words in Dickinson’s poetry, as defined in the Emily Dickinson Lexicon, based in part on her dictionary, Webster's 1844 American Dictionary of the English Language.

F311B - I know some lonely houses off the road

I know some lonely Houses off the Road
A Robber'd like the look of -
Wooden barred,
And Windows hanging low,
Inviting to -
A Portico,
Where two could creep -
One - hand the Tools -
The other peep -
To make sure all's asleep -
Old fashioned eyes -
Not easy to surprise!

How orderly the Kitchen'd look, by night -
With just a Clock -
But they could gag the Tick -
And Mice w
ont bark -
And so the Walls - dont tell -
None - will -

A pair of Spectacles ajar just stir -
An Almanac's aware -
Was it the Mat - winked,
Or a nervous Star?
The Moon - slides down the stair -
To see who's there!

And Echoes - Trains away,
Sneer - "Where"!
While the old Couple, just astir,
Fancy the Sunrise - left the door ajar!

About Work

First Line/Title

I know some lonely houses off the road

Date

1862

Recipient

Susan Dickinson

Edition

Franklin Variorum 1998

Number

F311B

Textual Notes

afar ajar Fancy Think that The first word Susan canceled was an editorial error, about which she wrote to T. W. Higginson on 4 January 1891 (Bingham, AB, 92), leading to a correction in the fifth printing. The second canceled word is the authentic reading in the fascicle: Susan's manuscript (reading "Think that") was clearly variant. In Complete Poems (1924), Martha Bianchi, working from her mother's copy of Poems (1890), sustained the correction of the error and adopted the second annotation, though the fascicle, from which the 1890 text had derived, was in her possession confirming "Fancy" in the final line. 10 make sure all's asleep -] Guage the Sleep - 16 wont] the w made from another letter, perhaps d 28 Ancient] Antique - Division1 Houses | 13 look, | 18 will - || 19 ajar | 23 the | 28 Ancient | 36 there"? || 39 just | 40 left the | 40 Think that] Fancy

Work Metadata

Manuscript

Two (one lost), variant, about 1862. The lost manuscript ([A]) was sent to Susan Dickinson, presumably about 1862, and was in her possession in December 1890, when she annotated her copy of Poems (1890) (y-brbl). In lines 19 and 40, she canceled words and interlined readings from her manuscript:

Recipient

Susan Dickinson

Fascicle

13 - 1

Notes

The copy in Fascicle 13 (h126) was recorded about early 1862.

Textual Notes

afar ajar Fancy Think that The first word Susan canceled was an editorial error, about which she wrote to T. W. Higginson on 4 January 1891 (Bingham, AB, 92), leading to a correction in the fifth printing. The second canceled word is the authentic reading in the fascicle: Susan's manuscript (reading "Think that") was clearly variant. In Complete Poems (1924), Martha Bianchi, working from her mother's copy of Poems (1890), sustained the correction of the error and adopted the second annotation, though the fascicle, from which the 1890 text had derived, was in her possession confirming "Fancy" in the final line. 10 make sure all's asleep -] Guage the Sleep - 16 wont] the w made from another letter, perhaps d 28 Ancient] Antique - Division1 Houses | 13 look, | 18 will - || 19 ajar | 23 the | 28 Ancient | 36 there"? || 39 just | 40 left the | 40 Think that] Fancy